Why do you read Zines?

[Jake Patton]

Hi my name is Jake I am 18 and an A Level student I am making a Fanzine for my graphics project and I found this website which I have to admit is great, but I need your help because I am writing an essay on Fanzines and Zines compared to normal magazines so I was wondering if you could post why you love reading Fanzines or Zines compared to magazines or if you are still a reader of magazines why you prefer to read a magazine to a Fanzine or Zine.

 

Cheers 

Jake!

[Will]

I read both zines and magazines. For different reasons. And I don't prefer either of them.

 

The magazines I sometimes read are New Scientist and the TES. They're able to provide up to date information, news and (most importantly for me right now) job openings. Since zines are usually produced over a few months that's not something they can do. I'd never read lads mags because they're misogynistic and just don't appeal to me, and so-called alternative mags are usually same shit, different packaging. So that bit of it is where I go to zines. 

 

Zines can provide an alternative voice that doesn't follow mainstream media narratives. In fact that's pretty much their raison d'etre. They're made with care and effort and the link to their audience is much more direct - magazine editors don't invite you to their parties, zinesters do. So if I read something I particularly agree with, I can write the author a letter and have a pretty good chance of getting one back.

 

What's your fanzine going to be on, Jake? And which do you prefer, fanzines or magazines?

[Jake Patton]

Firstly I'd like to thank you for your reply and what you have put is completely relevant so I thank you, My Fanzine was originally going to based on a man called Mikill Pane who despises Mainstream music and media, After being in contact with him and setting up a Photoshoot in London (I live in Manchester) when I finally arrived in London at the location we agreed to meet, He didn't show up, I guess he had become to mainstream to remember who his true fans where! 

So I decided to do a Fanzine about another Artist called Mac Miller although he is from Pittsburgh in America, I am just going to have to improvise and use pictures of a model instead. 

I prefer fanzines over magazines, I really cannot stand them, I find the stories and news they cover to be useless and pointless, Why should anyone care about one person splitting up with another when there is stories about poverty and famine that don't make the news.

 

I know I have put magazines in the question I more interested in the comparison of Zines and glossy magazines as I know some magazines are useful and do describe about the world so when I put "one person splitting up with another" what I meant was the coverage of which glossy magazines take! 

Jake. 

[Dirty grrrl zine]

I love to read and own zines as personally theres somthing about the aesthetic of a zine that to me is beautiful, i ama big fan of DIY culture and the more DIY a zine looks, for me the better!
I also think a zine is a very personal piece of art for the person who makes it. Whoever finds it and reads it could be someone who is then inspired to make one themselves or even is just simply inspired from reading it. Theres a community which comes with zine culture which makes it way more special then just going to a shop and picking up a magazine about generic subjects.